Kerung-Kathmandu railway will take Rs 257b and nine years to complete

Kerung-Kathmandu railway will take Rs 257b and nine years to complete

The preliminary study by Chinese team has put the estimated cost of Kerung-Kathmandu railway at over Rs 250 billion.

The report of the study done at May end has put the estimated cost of 72.25-kilometer railway at Rs 257 billion and it will take nine years to complete it, according to Communication Officer at the Department of Railways Prakash Bhakta Upadhyay.

The report of the study conducted by China Railway First Survey Design Institute Group will be made public on Monday. The company will hand over the report to a Nepali team after making it public amidst a program at Xian, China.

A team led by Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Madhusudan Adhikari has already reached China for the program. Around 98.5 percent of the railway will include bridge and tunnel, according to Upadhyay. “Details of the report have yet to arrive. Many things will be clear once they return with the report,” he stated.

The Chinese bore all the expenses for the study.

The Chinese company was selected after an agreement between officials of the two countries in Beijing in April end to conduct feasibility study for the railway line.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had expressed confidence that Chinese train will reach Kathmandu during the China visit of Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli in June. Xi had added that the team was already instructed to complete the report soon.